Iron Girl

Thank you to those who encouraged me, cheered me on, and trained with me!  I was able to complete my first long, sprint distance triathlon in open water.  This race included a 1/3 mile swim, an 18 mile bike, and a 3 mile run.  Both the bike and run contained some killer hills.  Eric worked the bike course as a traffic "cop" so he was only able to get a few pictures of the race.  I loved every moment of it and felt rather accomplished after!  I cannot wait to next years!

Mission Trip: Chattanooga, TN

Every year the parish takes a group of teens on a domestic mission trip to a nearby city.  We've been to places like New Orleans, St. Louis, and Mobile.  This year 47 of us went to Chattanooga, TN for a week long service project and conference.  My small group of teens were responsible for helping convert an old middle school into a community center.  We had to do things like prime the bright red doors, paint (with oil base paint) all the handrails, help keep the hallways cleaned, empty and clean the old lockers, and other easy construction tasks while the construction workers built out new walls and knocked down some others.  It was a fun project to be a part of, and while we left feeling like we only accomplished one or two pieces of the puzzle, we knew that we still contributed to the big picture of this famous new community center. 

I see a red door and I want to prime it white....

Safety Red!

Almost completed space

In process of being renovated

 At night and over the weekend, the Alive in You staff put on a conference.  This year's theme was "The Kingdom" where the kids explored all the facets of the beatitudes in Matthew 5.  Even in the context of the conference we still learned how to be good stewards of the earth, as well as made blankets for a local hospital.  Our kids were invited to sing and dance on stage during one of their favorite worship songs.

On Stage!

I'm looking forward to Eric and I's mission trip to Nicaragua, which is just around the corner!

We're Still Ghetto: Elizabeth's Class Reunion

I think Amada said it best, "It's like we suspended reality and went back to college for 3 days".

It's true.  The moment I walked off the plane and into Amanda's Jetta with Beth tagging along in the front seat, it was like the last 5 years never existed.  We arrive in VWK, our sophomore dorm, where the 4 of us lived together and much to our surprise, even after a carpet and paint change, the place smelled exactly the same.  Like home.

Beth, Jess, Amanda and I rearranged the furniture to how we had the room set up back in 2002-2003 and without words, started getting ready for the Class of 2005 Party in the bathroom using our same mirrors, sinks and cubbies as before.

The class party was fantastic: a DJ, cheap beer, KU food, old friends and of course, games of flip cup EVERYWHERE!  It was so fun to visit with friends that I haven't seen since graduation...I was amazed at how little some people changed and how much others did.

Saturday morning was the Flyer Fun Run through the school grounds.  Campus looked fantastic!  It rained most of the run, but it felt refreshing in the 85 degrees with 99.9% humidity (Oh, Dayton).  After, we watched Friends in the dorm room while we got ready for lunch at Dewey's, our favorite pizza place, before shopping at the bookstore and touring campus.  Naps were needed before the "Porch Party."

UD provided a live band, tons of food, and mock porches for photos and for the band.  We partied with people from all generations - including teaching folks from the class of 1985 how to play flip cup!  The night ended short due to a terrible thunderstorm.

Sunday morning concluded the weekend with Mass in the Chapel with Fr. Chris and a great lunch at Penn Station (why can't we have one in Atlanta???).

As we were talking over the weekend, the girls and I were amazed at all the different places in life one could be at 27; single, married, married with child(ren), living at home, living the big city life, jobless, working in corporate management, still partying or put those days away.... I wonder what our 10 year will be like?

Anyway, the weekend was great to share with old friends and to suspend reality even just for a few days!  The girls and I are planning a trip for next summer, since we most likely won't have any mutual weddings to attend (like every summer since graduation)... We're thinking Vegas?

New Local Spots

Utilizing coupons from Living Social, Groupon and Scout Mob  Eric and I, along with some friends, have been on a find-awesome-new places kick.  And of course, because we get half-off or more, it's been relatively affordable to enjoy all the sites (and bars) Atlanta has to offer.

We found Ormsbys mostly via Twitter and other beer drinking friends.  This place has Southern Comfort food by some semi-well known chef, a well rounded draft menu, and then.... the atmostphere feels like you're in someone's basement or cabin.  Wooden tables for board games, shuffle board, darts, skee-ball, photo booth, karaoke, and two indoor faux grassed bocce courts.  We snagged a booth and played Jenga for a good two hours.  The Saturday night wait for bocce was a little long - hopefully we'll be back on an early week night to snag a court for a game or two.

 Via a Living Social coupon, Rosemary and I snagged two buy $15 get $30 worth of food and drinks at a  place called Young Augustine's.  Here they feature two outdoor bocce courts, a decent beer menu and ridiculously funky foods.  We played a few games of bocce and headed in for a snack and trivia.  Some how we placed second in trivia, which scored us $20 for a return visit.  We also only used one of our $30 gift certificates because the food, while amazing, was so cheap!  Guess we'll have to go back.  Darn!

Notyototchos at Young Augustine's

My 100th Beer at Taco Mac

In a grand tradition among friends, I had to choose a cheap beer for my 100th at Taco Mac.  We typically save PBR for our 125, which is the number that gets us into the Brewniversity Bachelor's "degree" (read 16 oz beer for the prize of a 12)

Our Weekend at the Lake

This weekend Eric and I went with Joey and his crew of friends to his parent's lake house on Lake Hartwell. It rained off and on (hence no pictures), so we played lots of card games, watched basketball and tennis tournaments on TV, and cooked up a storm. Lainey, one of the girlfriends of the group and fellow food blogger, made an incredible Memorial Day feast. The recipes (and pictures!) are featured on her blogs: Life Love and Food: For a Crowd: BBQ Chicken, Mac and Cheese with BACON and Grilled PTR Salad

Thankfully, Sunday afternoon had a few dry, sunny hours, so we were able to get the boat out and a few turns of tubing or wake boarding. Just enough time for a light bronzing of the skin with out reaching the blister lobster look of lake trips gone by.

While we had a blast just chilling and grilling this weekend, it was a bit bittersweet. Joey, Eric's friend since 1st grade, is moving to San Diego where is wife is already employed and has been living for a few weeks. I know that it's not good-bye forever, especially since all of Joey's family lives in Atlanta, but I know that it was a difficult farewell for the fellows.